On a vibrant field, flowers and grass grew profusely in every direction.

  Harlyn’s hair fluttered gently in the breeze.

  Beside her walked the god El-Glry, his hand wrapped around hers as they crossed the lush green grass.

  That alone felt real.

  The rest—

  His armor, his crown—blurred together in shades of gold and silver, like light seen through closed eyes.

  El-Glry slowed and guided her to squat before a small flower.

  He plucked it from the earth.

  “Everything has energy,” he said calmly. “And all energy can be created.”

  Then, after a pause, he added, “The question is—do you have enough willpower?”

  He placed the flower into Harlyn’s hands.

  She gazed down at it.

  She didn’t know when it happened, but suddenly everything was dark.

  Harlyn looked around.

  Silence.

  No sky. No ground. Not a soul in sight.

  Everything had been swallowed by endless blackness.

  She looked back down at the flower—it had withered in her palm.

  A cold wind swept past her.

  In the blink of an eye, Harlyn was standing on a cliff.

  Below her stretched a scene of chaos: smoke, dust, and desperate screams rising from a burning village. Heat washed over her face.

  Then she saw it.

  A dark, human-like figure stood amid the destruction. Somehow, despite the distance, she could see it clearly.

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  Too clearly.

  The figure turned its head.

  Its gaze locked onto hers.

  A chill ran down Harlyn’s spine, and she stumbled backward.

  She crawled away from the cliff’s edge—but suddenly, a hand reached up from below.

  The dark figure began to climb.

  Harlyn didn’t hesitate. She turned and ran.

  She screamed for her parents, but the sound came out muffled, swallowed by the air itself.

  Then everything vanished.

  Harlyn fell into endless darkness.

  She woke up.

  Her chest heaved as she gasped for breath, her face slick with sweat. Her expression twisted in distress before she burst into tears.

  Clutching her teddy bear, she ran out of her room and toward her parents’ bedroom next door.

  “Mommy… Daddy…”

  She stood before the door, sobbing uncontrollably.

  The moon still hung in the sky. It was still night.

  The door creaked open, and Meryl stepped out, rubbing her eyes—half-awake, half-asleep.

  “What’s wrong, Harlyn…?”

  Behind her, Hale sat up in bed—sleepwalking.

  “What is it?” he turned left and right. “The end of the world?”

  Harlyn buried her face against her mother’s legs, clutching her dress.

  “Mom… I had a nightmare.”

  “I don’t want to sleep alone tonight.”

  Meryl didn’t hesitate. She lifted her daughter into her arms.

  “Okay. It’s okay,” she murmured. “We’re here.”

  “You’re safe now.”

  She carried Harlyn back to the bed and set her down. Harlyn immediately wrapped her arms around her father.

  Hale already drifted back to sleep, drooling.

  Meryl flicked his forehead lightly.

  “Already asleep…” she sighed.

  “Mommy, please don’t tease Dad…”

  Harlyn said in a pleading, whining voice.

  Meryl smiled.

  “All right. I’ll let Harlyn’s dad sleep.”

  She pulled her daughter close, holding her gently.

  Before long, all three of them drifted back into sleep.